the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >>> welcome. time now for some reality checks. we've waited until all four debates were over so we could see them more holistically than we would one by one. so with a little more than a week before november 6th, i've asked two astute observers, widely recognized for casting a keen and discerning eye on what we journalists often miss, to sum up how they think the debates and the campaigns have served democracy or not. we won't rehash who won or lost. ultimately each of you has to make that call. we want instead to ask what we did or did not learn about the pickle our country's in, and how the candidates think we can get out. kathleen hall jamieson is a regular and familiar participant on our broadcast. expert on debates, media, and political rhetoric. director of the annenberg public policy center at the university of pennsylvan